Is this one of the best or worst method books for fingerstyle guitar?



You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.



Dan Thorpe’s Fingerstyle 101 is a method book for learning to play fingerstyle (or “fingerpicking”) guitar.  The book is appropriate for absolute beginner fingerstyle players who have some experience with open chords.  Intermediate and advanced players will fly through this book and may find a few useful ideas but probably won’t find any revelatory information or inspiring performance pieces.  The author has written this book with older adult students in mind, although any beginning students would certainly benefit from working through it.  The book contains lots of practical advice on fingerpicking technique, playing posture, and strategies for practicing and memorization.  It has sections including “Pro Tips to Make Your Fingerpicking Journey Easier and More Enjoyable,” “The 7 Most Deadly Fingerpicking Mistakes,” and “The 10 Steps for Getting the Most Out of Your Fingerpicking Playing.”  There is one section of the book (less than half the book) with actual playing examples, and these examples are great first fingerpicking patterns to learn along with some practical applications.



There is lots of text in the book.  Fortunately, this text is informative without being bland.  Lots of lists, summaries, pictures, etc.  The text has a large font size so it is easy on the eyes.  Thorpe provides advice for avoiding guitar-related injuries – i.e. information about how to hold the guitar in the classical style to help older students avoid back pain.  There is some psychology about how to learn efficiently/effectively and how to make and set goals.  There is a chord reference guide as well as sections on understanding basic rhythms and reading tablature (TAB).



The playing section in the middle of the book progresses at a reasonable pace for a beginner fingerstyle student.  Thorpe teaches ten fingerpicking patterns, and for each pattern there are three examples.  The first example is as basic as possible over a single chord shape.  The second example has you play the pattern over a simple chord progression (always C G D).  Since you always utilize the same C G D chord progression, you will be able to focus your brain power on your picking hand and the new pattern.  This is also very practical because if you want to fingerpick the guitar while singing, it is useful to try out a pattern over simple chord progressions that you might find in folk or pop songs.  Finally, the third example introduces a more complex chord progression, stylistic elements such as hammer-ons and pull-offs, and sometimes a (very simple) moving melody or bass line.  These third examples are not long enough to be performance pieces, but they may inspire you to add some flair to your accompaniment fingerpicking or to write your own compositions.



The book doesn’t progress far enough to establish a specific style within the umbrella of fingerstyle guitar.  You learn a few classical arpeggiation patterns, a few Travis picking patterns, and a few patterns that have some folk or blues flair.  The book doesn’t get into the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc.  No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.



All playing examples are provided in standard notation (treble clef) and tablature.  Audio recordings are available for all playing examples.



You could use either a steel string or nylon string classical guitar to work through this book.



Published by Rockstar Publishing  © 2015, 2020.  Distributed by Hal Leonard.



My eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go ...